How to choose a ghost
Type ‘ghostwriter’ into your favourite search engine and you’ll find dozens more ghosts offering to write your book. Better still, fill in the contact form on this website and you’ll be presented with a line-up of bestselling ghosts who want to bring your book idea to life. It is inevitable that this process might seem a little overwhelming, which is not helped by the fact it is all so unfamiliar. How do you choose between us all? It is such an important, possibly life changing, decision trusting another person to work with you on your story. You don’t want to make a mistake.
It may be tempting to make a decision purely-based upon price. The ghost that asks for the smallest fee wins. Budgets are, of course, a huge consideration, but there are other elements that are equally important to achieve a winning collaboration.
Like any big decision, extensive due diligence is required. If you post your writing job with The Ghostwriter’s Agency, you will most likely receive approaches from a number of ghosts. Each of these ghosts will include their personal websites in their contact details, or will give details of previous relevant work. Look carefully at a ghostwriter’s previous experience. Most skilled ghostwriters can turn their hands to pretty much any subject, but it is helpful to delve into what they’ve done in the past. An author with a background as a captain of industry, or as a founder of a successful start-up, might prefer to work with a writer who understands the business world and is comfortable with what happens during investment rounds, takeovers and mergers and can understand a balance sheet too. Someone who has a dramatic story that involves some sort of loss, might be better matched with a ghost who has extensive experience in the sensitive telling of such tales. If the author is a celebrity who is very glamorous or well connected, they may well seek out a ghost who is familiar with all the names they will be dropping.
To take this one step further, let me add something from a ghost’s point of view in respect to experience. Ghosts tend to stick to the subjects they enjoy. Each Ghostwriter’s Agency member has indicated which types of books they prefer to write, whether it is politics, romance, science and technology, or true life (and many more categories besides). They may, occasionally, take work in other areas if they feel inspired by the story, but the important part of all this is: they are more likely to become fully immersed in the subjects they’ve specifically flagged because they love writing about them. When a writer enjoys a story, rest assured they will be fully committed to writing the best possible book. This is why it is worth taking the time to look at a ghost’s previous work. Prospective authors can save themselves the trouble of buying and reading dozens of books by cross referencing with Amazon the collaborations cited by ghosts and using the ‘Look Inside’ feature.
Another part of the due diligence process is to consider geography. Although this is much less important today, now we are all so used to conducting business online, it is, however, helpful for authors and ghosts to meet face-to-face at least once in the early part of the process to get a better feel for the chemistry between them. There is nothing like a real life interaction to check out whether an author and ghost just ‘click’ together, which always makes for a great collaboration. Some authors do also still prefer to conduct the entire interview process on a one-to-one basis. If the author lives in Aberdeen and the ghost in St Ives, pure logistics have to be a consideration. Like I say though, distance does not need to be a deal-breaker. This agency’s ghosts have worked with authors all over the world. However, it does bear thinking about, not least because if travel is required will add time and expense to the project.
By this stage, it is quite likely that an author will have produced a shortlist of, say, three ghosts. Now they need to pick up the phone, or arrange an online meeting, and speak to them. This is crucial to get an early indication of the chemistry between the parties and also to set out expectations on both sides. During the getting-to-know-you conversation, authors should briefly outline their aspirations for the book they’d like to write and why they think they are the best person to put their name to this book. They should also set out the role they’d like a ghost to play. If they’ve never done this before, it’s important to be open about it and indicate that they may need a little shepherding through the process.
When author and ghost first speak, it’s useful to remember that both parties will be sounding the other out. This is not a one way process. Yes, ghosts are writers for hire, but we need to fully commit to the projects we take on too. It can take up to six months to write a book. If a ghost isn’t interested in the subject, or doesn’t feel a connection with the author, they’re unlikely to commit to a collaboration. If the ghost feels it is something they may be able to help with, they might put forward a few early ideas about the best way to tackle the story, and, if required, explain a little about the process.
If the conversation progresses, and begins to get into more detail, authors will begin to get a sense of whether or not they would feel comfortable telling their story to this ghost. Mutual trust is a very important part of a ghosting relationship. Authors need to weigh up whether they have complete faith that this writer really knows what they are doing. Authors must also be fully satisfied their ghost can produce a book that reflects what they’ve got to say and is a compelling read too.
One more important consideration for both sides is: will it be fun? Do both parties feel the other will be interesting to work with? It is not a lifetime commitment, but co-writers do need to spend time together and, depending upon the story, it can all be quite intense at times. It will make a big, and potentially hugely damaging, difference if either party begins to dread the moment the other one walks through the door, whether digitally or in real life.
All ghostwriting services involve a bit of a leap of faith from both sides. However, if everyone does their due diligence carefully, there is a lot more of a chance that the match will be good.